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Spring 2020 Anime First Impressions

The spring 2020 anime season has begun! As usual, Beneath the Tangle staff will hit the new series fast and furiously, giving our impressions of the initial episodes of the series as they air. To make it easy for you to stay up to date, we’ll post links to those posts below, as well short impressions for our other writers about the opening episodes. We’d love to hear your feedback, too, so let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section. And before you get started, check out our podcasters’ preview of spring 2020 anime!

The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?

“Now, if you’re wondering what is it about this isekai package that makes it unique compared to the 8,571 other isekai packages we offer: well, in this one, you will be reincarnated as the 8th son of a poor noble family! Sure, this means you will have some trouble starting out, but with the aforementioned magic potential you will be sure to get the attention of a powerful magician and be able to make a name for yourself. Not only that, but…Is there anything else interesting in this package here?” Read More

Appare-Ranman!

“Appare-Ranman! appears to be a story that knows it’s ridiculous and makes the most of it. There was some pretty amusing dialogue, the historical setting was fun, and I’m quite curious how the show will portray past America. Also, the Engrish Force is strong with this one. In response to the famous question “Are you not entertained?” from Gladiator, I can happily say that yes, this episode indeed entertained me.” Read more

Samuru

Appare-Ranman Impression: When I first saw that this show was about a team of racers with different styles of cars, that’s all I needed to be convinced. The characters reminded me of this old cartoon called Wacky Races, but in Japanese and better animation! Appare is an interesting character, full of himself because of how smart he is compared to those around him, but I can imagine that changing once he is confronted with others who are equally or more intellectual. At first I was a little confused with the transition to seeing how Appare got to the race, but it was handled well and left me wanting to see what the next episode brings. Hitch up your loincloth, because this race is still running and I will be back to watch more of it!

Arte

“Was anyone out there hoping for an art-focused feminist historical fiction anime? Well, I have good news! On the whole, I enjoyed this episode. By way of critique, I would note that the theme of female empowerment, while not wrong in itself, comes across so emphatically that anachronism of it all is distracting at times. It’s also weird to see Italians bowing like they’re Japanese. And the overdone heroic-determination-does-the-impossible cliche pops up. These are relatively small quibbles, reasons to temper one’s expectations, but far from justification to skip or drop the series. Personally, I’m curious to see how the story will play with its historical inspiration. The visuals are quite lovely, too, as befits a story set in Renaissance-era Florence. I plan to tune in again, and I’d encourage you to check out Arte as well.” Read more

Samuru

I’ve been looking forward to this one when I saw the trailer. The animation is beautiful, and being that I’ve been to Florence, Italy (I went to Rome and stopped there for one day) it excited me more. Arte is a wonderful coming of age tale that so far isn’t disappointing for me, especially for young girls. The music is nice as well, and I like that it doesn’t focus on a lot of characters on the first episode.

I hope to see more historical facts about the Renaissance, artists, and other interesting points while I watch. That’s my main draw to this one, as well as the scenery which (as already mentioned) I truly enjoy. You will like this one if what I wrote enticed you, give it a try!

Twwk

Arte could be a good show, but it isn’t. It’s not that its without charm—Leo (a painter living in 16th century Florence…hmm, who could this be?) is an especially engaging character, and I’m already enjoying his interaction with the titular character. In fact, the entire setup for the show is somewhere between fine and excellent, but it’s the setting has killed this show from episode one. Set in the real world, in a real city, during a real time, can the audience really be expected to suspend so much disbelief as to buy into a story so unlikely to happen with anime tropes firmly in place in a Renaissance world? Nope—the story lost me at hello. A shame, too, because an anime about a female painter set in a time like the Renaissance, in a city like Florence? I would have been all in.

Bungo and Alchemist -Gears of Judgement-

“This anime was going in different directions at the same time, with not a lot of time to explain what is going on. The more I watched, the more confused I was. For example, at the end, there’s a talking cat and it’s not explained why. I would have to watch more of the show to fully understand what is going on.” Read more

Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater

” The show failed to convince me that Hina had even the least bit of interest in fishing or that she liked the other girls in the club. Also, there’s not much cuteness to the other girls of the Breakwater Club, which means this isn’t a CGDCT story and can’t rely on cuteness to gloss over elements that might otherwise be grating.” Read more

stardf29

I was initially looking forward to this show, but it ended up like trying to catch a fish and getting an egg instead. “Cute-girls-doing-fishing-things” should have been a great concept, but the way the main character gets pressured into joining the club rubbed me the wrong way, and it never really felt like her “awakening” to fishing was genuine. Also, while the show idea sounds like it would have a nice iyashikei feel like Non Non Biyori or Laid-Back Camp, it just doesn’t pull that feel off for me. Still, it’s not all bad; at the very least, the actual fishing is somewhat entertaining and educational. If I had to grade this show… it’s at least a C+.

Digimon Adventure:

“I hope that the rest of the Digi-Destined get their due, though even if they don’t, I remain hopeful for good things from the series based on the choices already made. I mentioned the animation—the direction is strong, as there seems to be a real lean toward Mamoru Hosoda’s vision as expressed in the first two parts of the Digimon Movie (later more fully realized in Summer Wars). Episode two even emulates the title of Children’s War Game, (minus “Children’s”). I’m down with anything that’s inspired by Hosoda, so you bet I’m aboard for this. I also like the design of this episode’s boss, a digimon out of a computer age Little Shop of Horrors (Feed me, Taichi!). The love for the franchise is expressed deeply through the care taken and creativity of the staff. This adventure looks to be a win.” Read more

Extra Olympia Kyklos

“Everything is, well, quite absurd, from the music actually saying “time travel” again and again during the time travel to the interaction between flat drawings of Japanese characters and the clay-like Greek characters, but it was sort of clever and had nice touches, and in particular I found the ending song hilarious.” Read more

Gal & Dino

“Gal & Dino is amazingly bad. There’s no story. There’s no character development. The part at the beginning that’s actually animated features ugly visuals and choppy, unnatural motion. It reminded me of ugly old American cartoons like The Simpons or Rugrats (or at least the snippets of those shows I remember glimpsing back in the ’90s).” Read more

Gleipnir

“…this series is dripping with hormones…and it’s a shame, too, because the intensity of the first episode in almost all aspects (and admittedly, the excessive fanservice fits the show’s tone) makes it compelling, as does the cover image from volume one of the manga, which I think will play out in episode two. Read more

Kakushigoto

“I enjoyed this episode and plan to watch more of Kakushigoto. The father-daughter relationship central to the story is heartwarming, much of the humor amused me, and the animation was solid. My biggest concern is over just how much Kakushi’s work is going to influence the show’s tone.” Read more

stardf29

I always enjoy a good slice-of-life about family, and this one by and large works on all fronts. You can definitely tell how much Kakushi and Hime care about each other, and the in-episode content is plenty funny, especially when the kids treat Starbucks like an evil lair. It’s also worth noting that the original manga was written by the same mangaka as for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and Kakushi can sound a little bit too much like he’s about to go into despair, though I can’t really say that’s a bad thing…

Listeners

“I can’t honestly say this first episode is “good.” However, it was rather entertaining. It’s hard to say much more than that when I still don’t really understand what’s going on. Will the show continue to be hilariously weird? Or maybe everything will make sense eventually?” Read more

Twwk

Some will focus on the CGI, which I found to be rather decent, but I think all eyes should be placed directly upon the storytelling in episode one, which is tiresome, formulaic, and lazy. I’ve seen this story so many times before, and I’ve heard the same dialogue again and again as well. The novel concept of plugging an audio jack into a girl’s back and seeing one’s amp turn into a mecha does not make up for everything else—if anything, it emphasizes how shallow the story is. I will say that it does do one thing well—it evokes memories of Eureka Seven. It’s too bad that Listeners lacks the originality and courage of that series. It could use a little of both.

The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED

“Balance: UNLIMITED has potential…if the story addresses how Daisuke gets away with solving every problem by throwing money at it while avoiding charges for bribery, assault, reckless driving, etc. Surely not every civil official in Tokyo is on his payroll, right?” Read more

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

“As many isekai as we’ve had so far, we have yet to dip into the sub-category of “reincarnated as an otome game villainess” isekai (there’s actually quite a few of those out there), and this should provide a nice fresh take on isekai for those tired of the usual. The concept of being reincarnated into an otome game means that a greater focus can be put on character relationships, which particularly comes into play in the second half when Katarina figures out how to deal with Keith and his route, and provides for a really sweet moment to close out the episode.” Read more

Twwk

What a lovely first episode! The idea of having the protagonist be a an otome game villain is a fun twist for isekai, and it’s executed very well, at least in this initial episode. Katarina is a lot of fun as the main character (I particularly liked her inner council, though I hope the show doesn’t dig that mine too frequently), and the episode ends on a really sweet note. There seems to be plenty of story to tell, and I’m eager to see how it all progresses!

Sakura Wars the Animation

“I watched the original Sakura Wars anime when I was a little kid, so my curiosity was piqued when this series was announced. Granted, my memories of what happened in the story is now very spotty, but the remix version of the opening brought in a big wave of nostalgia as it played out…” Read more

Shachibato! President, It’s Time for Battle!

“The episode is passable, just barely. There’s nothing especially terrible about it, there just isn’t much to like, either. On a positive note, the visuals are solid, there are some funny moments, and the setting has potential to be interesting through its combination of fantasy elements and modern technology. Negatively, there are some lame cliches, and some obnoxious sexualizing of Yutoria. We also don’t get to know the main cast; they’re just vanilla anime kids…” Read more

Shironeko Project ZERO Chronicle

“There’s nothing groundbreaking about this episode, but I enjoyed it. It made me interested in Iris and Mr. P; they vaguely reminded me of the leads from Maoyu (a series I loved). The show also sold me on the hope that this a logical world with mysteries to explore (as opposed to a world where nothing makes sense because the writers are just bad). The black-and-white, light-and-dark motifs in particular, while hardly innovative, have potential.” Read more

Sing “Yesterday for Me

“…Sing “Yesterday” for Me is bringing a different tone to the spring 2020 anime season, a seinen show that hits all the right notes about the slow depression one can drift into during their early twenties, and animated in browns and with cutscenes that offer a strong nostalgic tone.” Read more

Tamayomi: The Baseball Girls

“There’s evidence in episode one that the series is striving for a strong balance of both CGDCT and sports anime, and I could dig that, a best of both worlds kind of scenario when I’m a little burned out with both.” Read more

Tower of God

“Moving quickly from the test phase to level one, the episode becomes vividly intense with a Battle Royale setup and a cliffhanger to end the episode. The final scenes, along with some solid Kpop music from Stray Kids, has me anticipating the remainder of the season. I’m not all in yet, but I’m nearly there.” Read more

Gaheret

Every shot was a work of art, evocative and unique, something between Demon Slayer and Utena (also thematically, “the power of making miracles”?): the golden fields, the tower´s antechamber, the flashbacks. The premise, also, was intriguing, and it made me think that this may be a Divine Comedy shōnen of sorts (what is a “Tower of God/Kami no Tou”? What does it mean “to trascend it all”?). We had a glimpse of interesting politics and characters in the Tower, even if the more formulaic Battle Royale second level was kind of a letdown. Even so, I’m as willing as Headon to see what happens next.

Wave, Listen to Me!

“Minare is a compelling character, and with the creative hand shown in episode one, I’m looking forward to seeing where the anime goes, though I have a feeling that I might tune out at some point if the supporting characters aren’t as compelling as Minare, or if Minare’s shtick grows thin.” Read more

Woodpecker Detective’s Office

“The detective aspect of the story is clever enough, with plenty of twists and turns, and I can buy the poet-detective concept. The main characters are intriguing (and of course, the bleak destiny augured to the main character from minute one puts an unique spin on the story). Yet, it needs to go deeper…” Read more